Kylie Dulhunty catches up with the country's junior aerobics champion and finds it takes a great deal more hard work and dedication than she imagined
Meghan Ashford knows the meaning of the phrase ``grin and bear it'.
The pint-sized aerobics champion competes, and smiles, with shin splints.
Despite the pain the Year 10
Massey High School student has won the Federation of International Sports, Aerobics and Fitness Aerobic Junior National title.
Her reward is trip to Belgrade for a crack at the world junior championship in October.
``I didn't expect to win because my group was tough and I was terribly sick with a cold,' says Meghan. ``The worlds will be a tough challenge but my aim is to make the finals.'
A former gymnast, Meghan, 14, took up aerobics just over a year ago.
She says the strength and flexibility she developed as a gymnast makes the gruelling two-minute aerobic routines, filled with jumps, press-ups and kicks, easier.
But Meghan is not Massey High School's only sporting high-flyer.
This week, fellow students Amy Latu, Rhiannon Devlin and Armel Chou Lee take to the court in the Transtasman Netball Challenge.
Amy and Rhiannon will play for the New Zealand Secondary Schools Pasifika team, while Armel will take the court for opposition side, New Zealand Secondary Schools.
